It's Monday 5/14! What Are You Reading?

Whew, another exhausting weekend! We drove to Connecticut Friday evening to spend the weekend with my family for my mom's birthday and Mother's Day (fun but tiring) then rushed home Sunday in time for our son to get to work and to celebrate my father-in-law's 93rd birthday! Lots of celebrations (and cake) this weekend. It was good to see everyone and spend time together. Now we have less than two weeks until my oldest son's college graduation! Yikes - I need to plan the party, order announcements, etc.

Even in the midst of noise and chaos, we still enjoy our books. Here's what we've been reading this past week:

• I finished another Booktopia book, My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul, the editor of the New York Times Book Review and host of its weekly book podcast. I enjoyed this memoir told through books and could relate to some of her experiences.
• Now, I am reading Fates & Furies by Lauren Groff for one of my book groups this week. I'm not sure what to think of this one so far - it's a little weird. It's the story of a marriage, told first from the husband's perspective and then from the wife's. The narrative style is strange, though - third-person (an odd choice, I think, given the concept behind the novel) and a bit distanced. Also, I suspect that I am missing a bunch of mythological and literary references! We'll see how it goes - I'm not even halfway yet.
• I am still listening to The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah on audio, a novel I had heard rave reviews of. It's been excellent (I am nearing the end) and compelling. It starts in 1974, with a 13-year old girl as the main character, about a family that moves to Alaska. The husband/father was a POW in Vietnam and is clearly suffering from PTSD (though that diagnosis didn't exist back then) and moves the family to a remote cabin in Alaska impulsively. Things go well at first (it was summer!), but once winter begins, his mental condition deteriorates rapidly. Since he is at times abusive, parts of the book are difficult to listen to, but it's a moving, immersive, and powerful story.
• My husband, Ken, is reading The Troop by Nick Cutter, a thriller I gave to my dad as a gift that was among the many books we inherited from him when he died three years ago. Ken and I both love reading his old books because he shared our love of reading, and it makes him feel close. I have heard this one is a bit gruesome, but my dad loved it!
• I'm guessing that our son, Jamie, 23, is still reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. He is on book 7, A Crown of Swords, but without much reading time. Graduation is just two weeks away, so he is super busy with both school and job hunting.

Blog posts from last week:

TV Tuesday: Instinct - a funny detective show starring Alan Cumming

Author Interview & Fiction Review: My Ex-Life by Stephen McCauley - insightful & funny

Fiction Review: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin - 4 siblings learn the dates of their deaths

Fiction Review: All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson - a twisty & suspenseful mystery set in Maine

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.


What are you and your family reading this week?  
 
You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

3 generations: Grandad, Dad, and son!

 

Fiction Review: All the Beautiful Lies

I discovered yet another new-to-me author among the Booktopia line-up this year, Peter Swanson, and thoroughly enjoyed his latest fast-paced psychological thriller, All the Beautiful Lies.

Harry has been called home to Maine just days before his college graduation. His beloved father has died unexpectedly, and the police think it was suicide. Stunned and reeling, Harry returns to the small town in Maine where they moved shortly before he left for college, along with Harry's new wife, Alice. Although he's always felt an uncomfortable attraction to young, sexy Alice, Harry tries his best to ignore it...until Alice begins to come on to him, getting closer in their shared grief. Meanwhile, Harry spots a mysterious young woman named Grace at his father's funeral. When he talks to her later, Grace claims to be new to the area and looking for work at Harry's father's bookstore, but Harry suspects that's not the whole truth. As Harry digs deeper to find out how his father died, secrets and lies seem to pile up around him.

I read this novel in record time, staying up way too late each night, flipping virtual pages on my Kindle, promising myself just one more chapter. The narrative moves back and forth in time between "then," delving into Alice's history and background, and "now," as Harry tries to find the truth behind his father's death, until the two timelines converge. Suspense builds along with secrets in this little seaside town, with plenty of surprises along the way, prompting me at one point to yell out loud, "What?!" If you like psychological thrillers, you will enjoy this rollercoaster ride of suspense, murder, and strange domestic situations. I'm passing it on to my husband next!

304 page, William Morrow

P.S. The author, Peter Swanson, was very entertaining at Booktopia, sharing with us some of his many scribbled down ideas that didn't make it into his novels!

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Listen to a sample of the audio book here - I bet this one is great on audio! I enjoyed the sample.

You can order All the Beautiful Lies from the wonderful Northshire Bookstore, which hosted Booktiopia.

All the Beautiful Lies

   

Or order All the Beautiful Lies from your own favorite or local indie bookseller:

Fiction Review: The Immortalists

One of the books on the list for Booktopia this year was The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. I was excited when I saw that, since this novel has been getting so much press since its release in January, was on the best-seller list for months, and I had heard it discussed on several of my favorite book podcasts. Unfortunately, the author got sick and couldn't attend Booktopia, but I enjoyed reading the novel. It's a unique premise with a dark underbelly.

The story begins in New York City in the summer of 1969. Four Jewish siblings, living in a crowded apartment with their parents, hear about a fortune teller and sneak out to visit her. The psychic tells each of them - individually - the date that he or she will die, which is very disturbing information for a child, especially if that date predicts an early death. The novel then focuses one at a time on each of the kids, following his or her life until death. Youngest child Simon escapes to San Francisco while still in his teens, to seek a life of freedom and vibrancy. His next older sister, Klara, accompanies him to the West Coast, following her lifelong dream to become a professional magician. Oldest brother Daniel does his best to keep the world safe, as a doctor working for the Army, and Varya, who has always loved books, becomes a scientist, obsessed with the study of longevity.

It's an intriguing concept for a novel: following four characters who have been told when they will die. There is suspense as to whether the death prophecies will come true or not, as well as the fascinating question of how they live their lives with this knowledge. Obviously, this is not going to be a light, fun book, since you know from the start that each of the four sections ends with a main character dying. But I felt - as did other readers at Booktopia - that the author took a particularly dark approach with this story. It is a tragedy and also a family drama, highlighting the bonds of the siblings (even when they are far from each other). Although I would have preferred a slightly more positive, uplifting outlook, I liked the thought-provoking question at the heart of the novel: does knowing when you will die affect how you live?

343 pages, G.P. Putnam's Sons

P.S. Since I didn't get a chance to hear from the author or discuss the book much, I would love to hear what other readers thought of it! Let me know in the comments.

Disclosure: I purchased this book myself. My review is my own opinion.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

You can order The Immortalists from Northshire Books (which hosted Booktopia):

The Immortalists

   

Or order from The Immortalists from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Author Interview and Fiction Review: My Ex-Life

I couldn't wait to tell you about my latest author interview and book review for Shelf Awareness: I interviewed Stephen McCauley, author of the newly released novel, My Ex-Life, which is warm, insightful, and funny.

Although this is Stephen's 7th novel (and three of them were made into movies), it was the first of his that I have read. I absolutely loved My Ex-Life from start to finish. It's the story of David, a gay man, and Julie, his ex-wife, who reunite 30 years after their marriage ended, at a time when they could both use the comfort of an old friend. Stephen has a real talent for insightful writing that also makes you laugh. You can read my full review of his wonderful novel at this link.

After reading My Ex-Life, I was looking forward to interviewing Stephen and then meeting him in person last weekend at Booktopia, and I was not disappointed. He is just as warm and funny in person, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. You can read more about what went into writing this novel and Stephen's writing process in general in my interview with him.

My mother also loved his novel and developed quite an author crush on him this weekend! We are both looking forward to reading some of his previous novels (I came home with one from Booktopia). I'm so glad to have discovered this talented writer!

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, where you can hear a passage from the early chapters and glimpse that great sense of humor, and/or download it from Audible.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local:

   
  

 

Or you can order My Ex-Life from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

TV Tuesday: Instinct

My husband and I have been eagerly awaiting Instinct, a new TV show starring Alan Cumming (who we loved as Eli Gold on The Good Wife). We are now six episodes into this crime show with a sense of humor and are enjoying it immensely.

Cumming plays Dr. Dylan Reinhart, a seemingly mild-mannered college professor who teaches abnormal behavior, though it is revealed in the first episode that he used to be in the CIA. The show begins when Dr. Lizzie Needham, played by Bojana Novakovic, comes seeking Dylan's advice on a murder case. The killer has left a playing card at the scene of the crime, which was a theme Dylan used in his best-selling book on psychopaths, Freaks. Clearly, the killer is trying to get Dylan's attention, and Lizzie needs his help to track him down. Additional murders follow, and the two work together, running all over NYC, to find this serial killer. They do so well together that the NYPD asks Dylan to be an ongoing consultant for them, working with Lizzie when his expertise can help with a case. Dylan is reluctant at first - he left the CIA for a quieter life - but he loves solving puzzles and he enjoys working with Lizzie, so the two are soon partnered up.

As with most crime shows, Dylan and Lizzie face a new case in each episode, always involving some sort of abnormal psychology. Besides his expertise in that field, Dylan is also very observant, and he and Lizzie make a good team together. We are thoroughly enjoying this show so far. Cumming's character of Dylan is charismatic, mischievous, and very smart. Lizzie is also intelligent and likable. Best of all, the show has a great sense of humor (often bolstered by Dylan's grinning comments) - this is not a dark, brooding crime show. We look forward to watching it every week!

The first season of Instinct is airing on CBS on Sundays, with seven episodes aired so far (and a total of 13 planned for the season). We watch it On Demand, where the last four episodes are available. On the CBS website, you can watch the last 5 episodes for free or get all of them with a subscription to CBS All Access. You can also watch on Amazon for $1.99 an episode or $19.99 for the first season (right now, you could buy the first two episodes and watch the rest for free on CBS).

I can't wait to watch the latest episode tonight!



Also, if you are a fan of Alan Cumming, check out this short interview with Seth Myers - I had no idea he was Scottish!! He does such natural U.S. accents - Chicago and now NY - that this interview blew our minds.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

It's Monday 5/7! What Are You Reading?

I'm back from Booktopia 2018! Wow, what an amazing weekend (again). This annual event held at the wonderful Northshire Bookstore in lovely Manchester, Vermont, and is an entire weekend devoted to books, where readers and authors talk about books, get to know each other, and even enjoy meals and games together! It's completely unique, as the authors comment every year, and a lot of fun. I will recap the weekend, the authors, and the books later this week (after I catch up a bit).

As much as I love Booktopia, it is also exhausting! My mom and I always go together (this was our third), and she said she was exhausted, too, so with my chronic illness, I am really wiped out today. In addition to the weekend, I spent all day Thursday driving up there and all day Sunday driving home - luckily, my mom's house is about in the middle of the trip, so I could stop to eat and nap. I am in my recliner now - yawning and counting the minutes until my massage therapy appointment because my back is killing me!

But Booktopia was worth it, and I can't wait to tell you all about it and share my photos. For now, here's what we've all been reading this past week:

• Last week, I quickly finished a Booktopia book, All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson. I chose this mystery/suspense novel next because I was in the mood for something fast-paced - and this really fit the bill! It's the story of a recent college graduate who returns to his hometown in Maine when his father dies only to find his much-younger stepmother coming onto him and a mysterious young woman wandering around town who seems to be involved somehow. The lies and secrets pile up in this suspenseful novel. I enjoyed it, and the author was very entertaining this weekend!
• Next, I started (and am still reading) another Booktopia selection, My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul, the editor of the New York Times Book Review and host of its weekly book podcast. I'm enjoying this memoir told through books and can relate to some of her experiences. It's been weird reading her memoir - and then seeing her this weekend - because I hear her voice in my ear every week when I listen to the podcast!
• On audio, I finished the middle-grade novel, Posted by John David Anderson, about a middle school that bans cell phones. A boy nicknamed Frost and his three misfit friends start a trend of using sticky notes to communicate, and a new girl named Rose changes things for all of them. I enjoyed it very much, with its warm, funny, and poignant story about finding your tribe.
• Next, on my road trip this weekend, I started listening to The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (it seemed that this big trip called for a big book!), a novel I have heard rave reviews of. It's excellent so far, and easily kept my attention on that long last stretch last night! It's set in 1974, about a family that moves to Alaska. The husband/father was a POW in Vietnam and is clearly suffering from PTSD (though that diagnosis didn't exist back then) and moves the family to a remote cabin in Alaska impulsively. Things go well at first (it's summer!), but now winter is starting, and his mental condition is deteriorating rapidly. It's compelling so far, and I love the 13-year old girl who is the main character.
• My husband, Ken, finished Fifty Mice by Daniel Pyne, a thriller with an intriguing plot: a man has been put into Witness Protection and moved to a community on Catalina Island in CA, but he doesn't remember what dangerous information he knows. I need to ask him what he thought of it.
• Now, Ken is reading The Troop by Nick Cutter, a thriller I gave to my dad as a gift that was among the many books we inherited from him when he died three years ago. Ken and I both love reading his old books because he shared our love of reading. I have heard this one is a bit gruesome, but my dad loved it!
• I'm guessing that our son, Jamie, 23, is still reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. He is on book 7, A Crown of Swords. Graduation is just three weeks away, so he is super busy with both school and job hunting.

Blog posts from last week - just a few since I left on Thursday:

Movie Monday: A Quiet Place - unique film that combines family drama, suspense, horror & sci fi - we loved it (and I don't watch horror movies)

TV Tuesday: Rise - new show about high school drama club

Fiction Review & Author Interview: The Optimistic Decade by Heather Abel - I interviewed this Booktopia author, and my mom and I both loved her novel!

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.


What are you and your family reading this week?  
 
You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

 

My mom and I at Booktopia this weekend!

Fiction Review & Author Interview: The Optimistic Decade

I mentioned here on the blog that I have started writing author interviews for Shelf Awareness, and my first interview was published this week, with Heather Abel, author of The Optimistic Decade, a thoughtful novel that explores activism in the early 90's.

I read The Optimistic Decade as one of my Booktopia books for this coming weekend (and for the review), and I really enjoyed the novel. Set in western Colorado with a strong sense of place, the novel considers various members of an activist family who each choose to make a difference in the world in their own way. It is also a coming-of-age story about Rebecca, daughter of a leftist newspaper publisher, and David, her childhood friend, who both spend their summer at a Utopian camp. The novel explores a wide range of different ideas about making a difference, as well as about wilderness and land management. You can read my full review here on Shelf Awareness.

I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Heather. It was my first author interview, so I was a little nervous, but as soon as we began talking, our conversation flowed. She's lived an interesting life and brought pieces of that into the novel. You can read my interview with Heather here.

And now I am looking forward to meeting Heather in person this weekend at Booktopia!

TV Tuesday: Rise

On my own at lunchtime, I have started a new TV show: Rise, about a high school drama club in a small town. I'm enjoying it so far - it's kind of like Glee, only about drama and with a more serious tone.

Josh Radnor (well-known for playing Ted on How I Met Your Mother) stars in Rise as Lou, a high school English teacher in a small town in rural Pennsylvania. He volunteers to take over the drama club, which he feels has been stuck in an unimaginative rut - an opinion that the current head of drama club, Tracey (played by Rosie Perez), doesn't appreciate. The two of them end up teaming up to try to breathe new life into the school's plays. The problem is that, as in most small American towns, football is king and drama is treated as the ugly stepchild and gets little funding. Lou immediately makes waves with the principal, parents, and school board by ditching the same old tired plays and choosing Spring Awakening, a show that deals with all kinds of taboo topics relevant to teens. He and Tracey struggle to recruit enough kids to play all the parts, even convincing the star quarterback, Robbie, to try out when Lou hears his incredible voice (slightly familiar, Glee fans?). The show chronicles both the play production as well as the challenges of the families of key students. Lou's own son, Gordy, is on a wild streak and seems to have a drinking problem.

I always enjoy TV shows about high school - I was a total Gleek and absolutely loved Freaks & Geeks when I finally discovered it just last year - so I am enjoying Rise so far. It's mostly a straight-up drama, with scenes that include the kids practicing the play, and is as much about what happens outside of school as within those walls, touching on issues like sexual identity, gender identity, infidelity, divorce, single parents, teen drinking, and more. I've always liked Josh Radnor, and he does a great job portraying Lou's passion to make a difference. Rosie Perez is excellent as always, here in a multi-faceted role. The other actors playing parents, teachers, and kids are also very talented; it's a great ensemble cast. I'm interested to see where the show will go the rest of its first season.

I've watched five episodes of the 10-episode first season so far (episode 8 airs tonight at 9 pm on NBC). I watch it On Demand, and you can also catch up on past episodes at the NBC website for free. You can also watch it on Amazon for $1.99 an episode or $16.99 for the first season.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Movie Monday: A Quiet Place

While my husband and I were on vacation recently, camping in Virginia, the beginning of the week was a bit too cold for sitting around a campfire and relaxing outside. One evening, we went into town to see a movie (once we figured out that the "late" shows in this small, rural town were at 6 pm!). We saw A Quiet Place, a unique, captivating movie that defies categorization.

Jon Krasinski (who is well-known for playing Jim on The Office in the US for many years) and his wife, Emily Blunt, star as a husband and wife, Lee and Evelyn (though I didn't know their names until just now). They are living with their three children in some sort of post-apocalyptic world, as the film opens. Noah Jupe plays their preteen son, Marcus; Cade Woodward plays their youngest son, Beau; and Millicent Simmonds is magnificent as their deaf teen daughter, Regan. It becomes obvious from the first scenes that the dangers in this new world are some sort of terrifying creatures that hunt by sound. The family takes great pains to stay silent, first at the deserted store in town where they are restocking supplies and later at their home on a farm. They are all barefoot and have even covered the paths they walk with sand so as to muffle the sound of their footsteps. Fortunately, they all know sign language because of Regan, so they manage to communicate. Right from the start, though, you notice that Evelyn is pregnant, and thoughts of a crying baby (not to mention giving birth) in this silent world add to the growing tension, even before you completely understand the dangers.

Watching this movie is a unique experience. For most of the 90 minutes of the film, it is almost entirely silent - no dialogue, few background noises, no music. You quickly acclimate to the family's silent communications, but the suspense builds as you grow to understand what a single noise could mean. On IMDb, this movie is listed as Drama, Horror, Sci Fi, and Thriller, and that sounds strange but is pretty accurate. I've heard it called a horror movie (my son was surprised that I wanted to see it), but it is as much a family drama. The tension lives up to its thriller moniker, and once you get a glimpse of the creatures, you immediately understand that they must be some sort of alien thing, hence the sci fi tag. But this movie is far more than the sum of its parts. Krasinski wrote and directed as well as starred in it, and the full cast listing includes just six people (and "man in the woods" is not on-screen for long!). To create a film with essentially just five characters and all that silence that is so compelling you can't take your eyes from the screen is quite an achievement.

As for the scaredy cats wondering if this is too horror-ish...I don't normally like horror movies, and I loved this movie. However, while it is a (very) quiet family drama delving deep into these few characters' lives (I cried at one point), the suspense and tension are high throughout, and there are a few gotcha moments that made me scream and grab my husband's arm! It doesn't take much after all that silence to feel alarmed, especially when you know the new baby will be coming soon. The few glimpses of the creatures are pretty gruesome, though the movie only gets a PG-13 rating, and there is little gore or on-screen violence (but what you imagine off-screen is enough, when it happens). In short, we were both spellbound for 90 minutes. We've told our sons they must go see it!

A Quiet Place is still in theaters, and that's definitely the best way to see it, if you can, on the big screen, with silent people around you. Chewing popcorn sounds frighteningly loud! Click the Fandango link below to find theaters and times near you - maybe you have a local recliner theater like we do. It is due to come out on DVD, Redbox, and Netflix on July 3, 2018 (link here and below to pre-order the DVD).

Disclosure: I paid for this movie myself. My review is my own opinion.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Look up theaters and times:

It's Monday 4/30! What Are You Reading?

Whoa. How did it get to be the end of April already? And the temperature was in the 30's this morning! Of course, the forecast says we'll be close to 90 by the end of the week, so I guess April was still winter, and May will be summer - what happened to spring?

OK, enough weather ranting. Last week was a good productive week. I got lots of writing done - both here on the blog and for my freelance work. I was catching up after our vacation and also getting ready for another trip this week. I will be driving to Vermont at the end of the week for Booktopia 2018! It's an amazing book event that my mom and I enjoy most years, when we can manage it - there's still time to sign up, if you want to join the fun! I can't wait to spend time with my mom, see our old friends from previous Booktopias, meet the authors and spend time with them...and talk books ALL weekend!

Here's what we've all been reading at our house this past week:

• I finished The Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles, a Booktopia selection. It's a novel written as if it were an in-depth investigative report of a true story, about a young man on the Mississippi Gulf Coast who was paralyzed in Afghanistan and suddenly just stands up from his wheelchair and walks. The book delves into many different aspects of the story - his doctor at the VA, the Catholic church's investigation into whether this constitutes a miracle, a reality TV show made about him, and the backstory of his life before. It was completely unique and very good - insightful and funny, about what it means to live in our modern world.
• Now, I am reading another Booktopia book, All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson. I chose this mystery/suspense novel next because I was in the mood for something fast-paced - and this really fit the bill! I have been staying up way too late each night reading this story about a recent college graduate who returns to his hometown in Maine when his father dies only to find his much-younger stepmother coming onto him and a mysterious young woman wandering around town who seems to be involved somehow. The lies and secrets pile up in this suspenseful and somewhat creepy novel. I hope to finish it today - it's been a fast, compelling read!
• My husband and I finished listening to The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn, which we started on our road trip. It's sort of a modern version of the Hitchcock movie Rear Window. In this case, it features a woman named Anna with agoraphobia who hasn't left her house in 11 months. She amuses herself in part by watching her neighbors from her window, and one day she sees a horrible crime. She tries to report it to the police, but the people involved deny it happened and no one believes her, due to her unstable mental condition, loads of medications, and a heavy drinking habit. Lots of suspense over whether it really happened or not! We enjoyed it, and it kept surprising us.
• Now, I am listening to a middle-grade audio book, Posted by John David Anderson, about a middle school that bans cell phones. A boy nicknamed Frost and his three misfit friends start a trend of using sticky notes to communicate, and a new girl named Rose changes things for all of them. So far, it's warm and funny and very enjoyable.
• My husband, Ken, is reading a novel I gave him for Easter (books for all occasions here!), Fifty Mice by Daniel Pyne. It's a thriller with an intriguing plot: a man has been put into Witness Protection and moved to a community on Catalina Island in CA, but he doesn't remember what dangerous information he knows.
• Our son, Jamie, 23, is still reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. He is on book 7, A Crown of Swords. He loves this epic fantasy series. He has been slammed with make-up work and job hunting, but he has less than a month to go to graduation!

Blog posts from last week - a catch-up week!

TV Tuesday: Good Girls - a fun new show about 3 suburban moms who become criminals to save their families

Fiction Review: The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn- suspenseful psychological thriller

FREE Audiobooks - SYNC Summer 2018 Begins! - free audiobooks all summer - still time today to grab the two for week 1!

Fiction Review: Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles - a unique, intriguing, funny novel about a possible miracle

Two Recent Travel Articles - links to two travel articles I wrote that were recently published

Saturday Snapshot: Southeastern Virginia in Spring - highlights from our recent trip

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.


What are you and your family reading this week?  

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

I'm missing those lazy vacation days with plenty of reading time!

 

Saturday Snapshot: Southeastern Virginia in Spring

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads.

We finally got our long-awaited vacation last week - a camping trip to Southeastern Virginia - though the weather was still much cooler than usual for this time of year! We did get a couple of nice days, though. We stayed in two state parks: Twin Lakes and Staunton River. Both were beautiful and mostly deserted at this time of year, especially in the middle of the week. We enjoyed hiking, kayaking (on the one day it was warm enough!), and exploring a few small towns. Some good food, too, but I will save that for another post. Here are some highlights from our trip - click any photo to see it larger sized.

Goodwin Lake at Twin Lakes State Park

Hiking Around Goodwin Lake at Twin Lakes SP

A Bit of Blue Sky & New Green Buds Though Still Looks Wintry!

The High Bridge of High Bridge SP - a 30-mile long rail-trail

The Appotomax River from High Bridge

Kayaking on Prince Edward Lake at Twin Lakes SP

Our Campsite at Twin Lakes SP at Dusk

A Bit Further South & More Green at Staunton River SP!

Dan River on a Windy Day at Staunton River SP

Getting Greener!

Hiking Selfie on Captain Staunton Trail

Staunton River on a Calmer Day at Staunton River SP

Dozens of Turtles Sunning Themselves in Prince Edward Lake at Twin Lakes SP

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend! Lots of catching up to do here.

Two Recent Travel Articles

Happy Friday! I am almost caught up on my e-mails after last week's vacation - down to less than 100! It's been a busy week of catch-up and writing.

No time for a review today, so I thought I'd share two travel articles I wrote that were recently published. Although I love writing about books and am enjoying my freelance work in that area, and I sometimes write about chronicle illness, I want to do more travel writing in the future - preparing for when my husband retires in two years, and we hope to travel more.

So, two of my travel articles recently published (copies of the articles at the links):

Nebraska's Stonehenge, an Around the Bend article for Trailer Life magazine's March 2018 issue about Carhenge, a very cool and unique roadside attraction - classic Americana!

 

In Delaware's Defense, an Unexpected Mid-Atlantic article for AAA World, Mid-Atlantic edition, March/April 2018, about Fort Miles, a strategic WWII fort in southern Delaware.

Look for another travel post tomorrow, with photos from last week's vacation to southeastern Virginia for Saturday Snapshot.

Do you enjoy travel?

Fiction Review: Anatomy of a Miracle

As most regular readers here know, I am gearing up for Booktopia 2018 (still time to register!) and have been feverishly reading through the Booktopia book list, in preparation for meeting (and hanging out with) the authors next week. My latest read was Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles, a novel pretending to be an investigative report.

Cameron and his older sister, Tanya, have had a rough life. Their father left, their mother died when they were teens, Hurricane Katrina demolished their home, and then Cameron became paralyzed during a bombing in Afghanistan while he was in the Army. Now, four years after the event that sent him home, Cameron and Tanya live a quiet, limited existence in their small house in Biloxi, MS...until the day that Tanya pushes Cameron to the local store, the Biz-E-Bee, for beer and cigarettes, and while waiting outside, Cameron just stands up from his wheelchair and walks.

His doctor at the VA can't explain this stunning change, but the local church - and believers from all over - are convinced it's a true miracle. Cameron and Tanya's quiet life explodes into one of fame, including a Vatican investigation, a reality TV show called Miracle Man, and for Cameron, the constant pressure of people asking him to pray for them or wanting to touch him. It's a lot for one young Mississippi man to handle, and Cameron is confused by the religious aspects. He wants to know for sure whether this was a real miracle or there is a medical explanation, but that is an impossible question to answer.

This unique story is written from the perspective of a journalist, reporting on all that happened after the fact. Its subtitle is The True * Story of a Paralyzed Veteran, a Mississippi Convenience Store, a Vatican Investigation, and the Spectacular Perils of Grace (*a novel), so that gives you some idea of the set-up. It's a fascinating and convoluted story, and Cameron is a complex, reluctant hero. As the story progresses, and especially through the Vatican investigation, details of Cameron's past come to light, including his high school years, why he entered the Army after school, and his experiences in Afghanistan, gradually providing answers to the reader. I enjoyed this novel and was intrigued by Cameron and Tanya, though some of the war scenes were slower-going for me (though  important). A thread of humor throughout helps to ease the tension. This original novel is really an in-depth and thoughtful look at what it means to be human and to live in our crazy modern world.

355 pages, Hogarth

Disclosure: I borrowed this book from the library. My review is my own opinion.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Listen to a sample of the audiobook.

Buy Anatomy of a Miracle from an indie bookstore:


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FREE Audiobooks - SYNC Summer 2018 Begins!

Every summer, I look forward to downloading FREE audiobooks from SYNC, a program hosted by AudioFile magazine.

Each week, SYNC offers two free audiobooks that you can download onto any device. The two books usually include one contemporary YA title, paired with a classic or a nonfiction book with a similar theme or subject matter. Each pairing is available for download for one week, to be replaced by a new pairing the following week. Once you download the books, however, you can listen to them whenever you want.

SYNC's program for 2018 started today, so head to the SYNC website right away to download the audiobooks for week 1! This first week is featuring:

• The Great War by David Almond, John Boyne, Tracy Chevalier, and more - a collection of WWI-related short stories by top authors.
• A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro, a YA novel about the teen descendants of Holmes & Watson solving a mystery.

I have listened to so many amazing audiobooks through SYNC in the past years. I can't wait to see the rest of their line-up for 2018!

Fiction Review: The Woman in the Window

I've been hearing rave reviews of the best-selling psychological thriller, The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn, so I was excited to give it a try. My husband and I listened to the audio book on our road trip to Virginia last week and just finished it Monday night. We both enjoyed this suspenseful story that kept us guessing (mostly wrong!) until the very end.

Anna hasn't left her house in Harlem in 11 months. The reader/listener doesn't know exactly why, just that there was some kind of an accident, and now Anna is alone, with her husband and beloved daughter elsewhere, though she talks to them almost every day. Other than that, her only visitors are her therapist and physical therapist, but she stays busy online playing chess and helping others also suffering from agoraphobia in an online support group, since Anna herself used to work as a child psychologist. Anna's other main form of entertainment is watching her neighbors from her window, with the help of the zoom lens on her camera.

She is particularly interested in the new neighbors that just moved in across the street: Alistair, Jane, and Ethan Russell. Both Ethan, a teen boy who is homeschooled, and Jane have come to visit Anna separately, and Anna likes them both. Then, Anna sees a horribly violent scene at their house from her window. She reports it to the police, and they investigate, but no one believes Anna. After all, she drinks heavily, is taking piles of pills every day, and appears very unstable. The police try to convince her that she hallucinated the whole thing. So, what's the truth? Did it really happen? Did Anna imagine it? What is really going on across the street?

As you might have recognized, this story is loosely based on the same sort of concept as Hitchcock's  film Rear Window, and the author is a fan of classic noir films and imbues Anna with that same interest. The novel is filled with references to the black and white thrillers Anna is always watching, upping the tension of the story. My husband is one of those people that always guesses the ending to suspense and thriller books and movies - and he's almost always right - but this one stumped us both! There are lots of twists and turns in the plot and many unexpected surprises that keep the suspense level high. My husband also sometimes gets impatient with audio books on our trips, but this one kept his interest (and mine) from start to finish, and anytime we hopped in the car for even five minutes, we were listening to it! This dark and intricate thriller will keep suspense fans rapt.

448 pages, William Morrow

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Listen to a sample of the audio book of The Woman in the Window here.

You can buy The Woman in the Window from an indie bookstore:


Or order The Woman in the Window from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

TV Tuesday: Good Girls

As regular readers know, I enjoy watching more girl-centric TV shows when I am on my own at lunchtime. My latest obsession is a new NBC show, Good Girls, about three suburban moms gone rogue. It's a unique plot with a great cast, and I am loving it.

Christina Hendricks, well-known for playing Joan on Mad Men, is Beth, an overworked mom of four kids who has devoted her life to her family. In the first episode, she finds out that her husband's been having an affair with a woman at his car dealership and that his midlife crisis has cleared out the family's bank accounts so that they are now in serious debt. Beth's younger sister is Annie, played by Mae Whitman who is known for her role as Amber on Parenthood. Annie is divorced and shares custody with her ex of their young daughter, Sadie, who dresses like a boy. Her dad and his new wife have threatened to sue for sole custody, so Annie is also in dire financial straits, needing to hire a lawyer to fight for her daughter. Rounding out the trio is Ruby, played by Retta (best known for her role on Parks and Recreation, though I know her from The Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce). Ruby is happily married and has two kids. She works at a diner, and her husband works as a security guard, so their money is already stretched thin, but now their daughter needs an expensive medication for her kidney disease. These three very desperate friends decide they are desperate enough to do something crazy - rob the grocery store where Annie works. As you might have guessed, nothing goes according to plan, and their one night of crime turns into much, much more.

This is such a fun show. It deals with some serious issues and family drama but mostly in a light way. The women's escapades - which grow out of control into something they never envisioned - provide plenty of suspense but also lots of laughs as these normal moms try to act tough. I love all three of these actresses, and they are great in these roles, playing off each other. It's wonderful to see a show like this that puts a spotlight on women's friendship (even though they are leading a life of crime). There are always surprises in every episode, and I look forward to watching each one.

Good Girls is currently airing on NBC, Mondays at 10 pm Eastern, but I don't watch anything live anymore! Nine episodes have aired so far, and the tenth and final episode of season 1 airs next week. I am up to #7 so far and still loving it. All episodes from season 1 are available On Demand if you have cable or on the NBC website for free. It is also available on Amazon for $1.99 an episode or $16.99 for the entire season.